“HELLO? MISS WINCHESTER? Anybody home?”
The feminine voice echoed through the empty house. Elodie tugged off the rubber gloves she was wearing to scrub the tile backsplash in the kitchen and dropped them next to the sink. “Just a moment,” she called. Mary was cleaning in the library, and Elodie didn’t want the older woman to rush to get the door.
A few seconds later, Elodie exited the kitchen and walked the length of the front hall. A dark-haired woman stood squarely in the doorway, her features softened by the thin mesh of the screen. Elodie smoothed her damp hands over her skirt before opening the door. “Hello,” she said. “Are you Susanna?”
“I am,” the woman said. “Susanna Sylvestri. Dev called and said you might need my help with a window repair.”
“Yes, it’s over here.” Elodie stepped out onto the porch and led Susanna over to the broken window. “Dev mentioned you can fix leaded glass.”
“I can,” she said.
Like many of the townsfolk, Susanna Sylvestri regarded Elodie with a healthy dose of suspicion. She hadn’t managed to smile yet and didn’t seem anxious to engage in idle chitchat. “How long have you been working with glass?”
“For ten years,” she said. “At first it was a hobby. Now it supports our family.” Susanna paused. “My husband worked at the mill. So did my daddy and my older brother.”
A long silence grew between them, and Elodie felt her spirits sag. Was it any wonder that she was roundly hated here in town? “Well, I’m glad to find you. Vintage leaded glass is tricky to repair. Whatever it costs, I’m willing to pay.”
“I don’t need charity,” Susanna muttered, staring up at the window. “None of us do.”
Elodie watched in silence as Susanna carefully removed the leaded panel from the window frame. “I can replace this plate glass, too,” she said. “Although, they’d do it for cheaper at the hardware store in Hightop, or in Asheville.” She ran her gloved hand over the jagged edge of glass. “It’s a shame. This is the original hand-blown glass. It’s been in this window since the house was built in the 1880s.”
“You know a lot about the house?”
“I know a lot about glass,” she said with a reluctant smile. “We might have some problems with these bevels, though,” she said. “They might be hard to find.”
“Actually, there’s a bin of them out in the carriage house,” Elodie said. “I can show you.”
Susanna nodded and the two of them walked off the porch and circled around the corner of the house. “Do you just do repairs on leaded glass or do you have a studio?”
“A studio?”
“Yes, a place where you can work and sell your art. I used to run a gallery in New York and we did very well with our glass artists.”
“My studio is our old chicken coop,” she said. “Nothing fancy.”
They retrieved the bin of glass scraps and to Susanna’s surprise, she found a match for the broken bevels in the window. The woman began to relax a bit more, and Elodie tried her best to keep the conversation light, but interesting. Susanna appeared to be about four or five years older than Elodie, but her pretty face was worn by the difficulties she’d had in her life.
Elodie couldn’t help but feel a measure of guilt. So many people had suffered after her father had run the mill into the ground and then pillaged his employees’ pensions. “Do you sell your work anywhere?”
“I mostly do commissions,” she said. “Church windows, primarily. I can’t afford to make anything that might not sell. I guess that’s what separates the craftspeople from the real artists.”
“Still, I’d love to see your work,” Elodie said.
“I have a couple of windows in my truck,” she said. “I could show you. They’re for a Unitarian church over in Asheville.”
“Sounds great,” Elodie said.
Elodie helped her gather up her tools, and Susanna grabbed the broken window before they headed out to the street. She drove a battered panel truck, and Elodie could read the remains of the former owner’s business—an automotive supply shop that had closed years ago in downtown Winchester.
Susanna opened the back door of the truck, rolling it up until the interior was exposed. She jumped up, then offered a hand to Elodie. The temperature inside was stifling, but once Elodie saw the windows, she forgot all about the heat.
“You did the design on these?” she asked, peering at the windows through the protective crating.
“I did.”
“These are lovely. Stunning. You may not think it, but you are an artist.”
Susanna laughed softly. “No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You ought to start believing it. If I saw this work in New York, I’d try to get you to do a show for our gallery. I’d call a few of our patrons and convince them to sponsor you. I’d make sure you had everything you needed to do your best work.”
“I—I don’t understand,” Susanna said. “How do you make that happen?”
“I just do. I know that your business pays the bills,” she said. “But maybe it’s time to make room for your art.”
Susanna shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m barely making ends meet as it is. I’m not sure there is any room in my life for art.” She drew a deep breath, then held out her hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Winchester.”
“You can call me Elodie,” she said, taking her hand.
“Elodie.” Susanna paused. “You’re not anything like I thought you’d be.”
Elodie blinked in surprise. “What did you expect?”
“Someone...different. You know, kind of snooty. I didn’t expect you to be so real. Normal. Nice.”
“I hope we can be friends,” Elodie said.
Susanna nodded as she locked the back door of the truck. “I’ll put your window at the top of the list,” she said. “And I’ll be here tomorrow morning to reglaze that big one.”
She waved as the truck pulled away from the curb, and Elodie smiled. For the first time since she’d returned to Winchester, she felt as though she might not be Public Enemy Number One. She’d made a friend—of sorts. And she’d also come up with an idea, a tiny kernel of a concept that was beginning to take root in her mind.
Elodie hurried back to the house and walked inside, the screen door slamming behind her. She slowly took in the interior space, the walls, the doorways, the front hall. Then she ran into the empty parlor to the right of the front door. The room was full of natural light and would make a beautiful gallery.
The dining room was even better, and she tried to imagine the different ways she could use the space. What better purpose for the old mansion than to turn it into a cultural gathering point for the town?
Some of the upstairs rooms could serve as offices or meeting rooms. The ballroom could be used for presentations or guest speakers, or as a temporary gallery for traveling shows. And there were so many local artists who could benefit from their work being shown to the public.
Elodie pressed her hand to her chest, her heart beating a bit faster with excitement for the plan. The best part of it was that she could actually save the mansion and restore her family name in Winchester.
She walked into the kitchen and grabbed her cell phone, then scrolled through her numbers until she got to Dev’s. But then she stopped and thought about what she was doing. Was this really about the town or was it simply an excuse to spend more time with the sexy police chief?
Her original plan had been to spend a week or two getting the house in order and then finding a way to cut her final ties to the town. And now, all she could think about was seeing more of Dev.
A warm flush crept up her cheeks, and she sighed softly, remembering very clearly the effect his touch had on her body. That first sexual encounter had come as a complete surprise, the desire between them so intense that it had overwhelmed every last shred of her common sense—they’d almost made love on her porch, for goodness’ sake.
It wasn’t as if she were accustomed to seducing strangers. Elodie had enjoyed four or five serious relationships in her life, and in between, she’d dated a number of handsome, successful and eligible New York City bachelors. But not a single man outside of Dev Cassidy had ever made her behave with such reckless abandon.
Smiling, she set the phone back down on the counter, then sat down on an old kitchen stool. Maybe she ought to give this plan a few days to percolate in her brain. Right now, it appeared to be the answer to all her problems—it gave her a home, a job, a place to belong. But all of that was twisted up around the man.
“Miss Elodie?”
She glanced up to find Mary Cassidy standing in the doorway. “Oh, Mary, I’d almost forgotten you were here. You should have gone home ages ago.”
“I wanted to finish oiling the paneling in the library. I came across something you might want to see.”
Elodie followed Mary through the house. When they got to the library, the scent of beeswax and lemon permeated the air. It was a smell she remembered well from her childhood, and she smiled. “This looks lovely,” she said, taking in the soft sheen on the cherry paneling.
“Thank you, but this is why I brought you in here,” Mary said, pointing to a small panel beneath one of the bookcases. “I was rubbing the wax into the wood and it just popped open. It’s a secret storage spot.”
Elodie frowned. “Is there anything in there?”
“I didn’t look. It wasn’t my place.”
Elodie bent down and peeked into the dark recesses of the library wall. “It seems empty,” she said. She closed the door, noting the location of the latch, then gave the panel a good push. It popped open again. “Interesting. Too bad there aren’t any family jewels that my ancestors hid away. They’d help pay for a new roof.”
“There are a lot of files left in your father’s desk, though,” Mary said. “You should probably go through those and see if there’s anything important.”
“I will,” Elodie said. She sat down in the battered leather chair behind the desk, then slowly turned it in a complete circle. “Just another thing to add to my list.”
“Maybe I should start coming an hour earlier,” Mary said.
“No,” Elodie replied. “Mary, I can’t afford to pay you for the time you’re already putting in.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. A few hours a day is fine. But you’ve been spending your entire day here.”
“When you sell the house, you can pay me,” Mary said. “Or not. I just want to help out.”
Elodie pushed out of the chair and crossed the room to Mary. She looped her arm though the older woman’s, then drew her along to the door. “Why don’t we take a break and have some sweet tea and a few of those cookies you brought me.”
As they walked back through the house, Elodie made a mental note to talk to Dev about his mother’s determination to resume her old duties. As much as her help was appreciated, Elodie was in no position to pay her. Maybe Dev could convince her to stay home.
She wondered if she ought to call him. He’d called her last night and again early this morning, but he hadn’t suggested they get together. Perhaps he regretted what had happened that first night. If people in town found out they were involved in a sexual relationship, it could mean trouble—for both of them.
If he’d decided to stay away, she had to trust that Dev knew what was best. But that didn’t mean she had to like it.
* * *
IT WAS DEV’S favorite time of day, when most of the citizens of Winchester were through with their supper and settling in for the evening, maybe watching a ball game, maybe relaxing on the porch as they searched for a cool breeze or the scent of rain.
His shift was over at 10:00 p.m., and as he got closer to that time, his mind was increasingly occupied with thoughts of Elodie. He’d made a point to stay away from the mansion on Wisteria Street at night, knowing that the temptations there were just too great to deny. But he had checked in with her, and she seemed to be busy working on the house.
He had the day off tomorrow and had decided to find a way to spend it with Elodie. He could help with some of the work around the house, maybe do some painting or clean up the brush in the old gardens.
Just the thought of returning to her orbit made him a bit uneasy. It took all his strength to keep from touching her, and his mind was constantly filled with seductive images of their intimate encounter on her porch. It seemed like a dream, he mused. As if he’d somehow imagined it. Would it happen again? Could he make it happen again? Should he?
He kept telling himself that caution was the key, and he hoped going over there during the day would keep him from kissing her and hauling her off to the bedroom. There were more excuses during daylight hours.
Dev glanced at the clock on the dash, then pulled the cruiser over to the curb in front of Zelda’s. A cup of coffee should give him enough energy to finish off his shift. But he knew he was in for another restless night. He hadn’t slept well since Elodie had arrived in town, and he didn’t expect that would change anytime soon.
The café was almost empty when he stepped inside. He slid onto a stool at the counter, then fixed his eyes on the refrigerated case next to the cash register. A few seconds later, Joanie walked up, the coffeepot in her hand. She flipped a cup over in a saucer and poured.
“Quiet night?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’ll take a slice of that cherry pie, please.”
“Ice cream?”
“Sure, why not,” Dev said.
She set the pie in front of him, then leaned against the counter. “Jimmy Joe’s got himself quite a little enterprise, thanks to you. You just seem to watch out for everyone in this town, don’t you?”
Dev looked up from his pie, the fork halfway to his mouth. “I do my job.”
“People are talking,” she said.
“They have a tendency to do that when they don’t have better things to occupy their mind.”
“Is it true that you and Elodie Winchester had a thing for each other back in the day? I’ve heard you’re the reason she was sent away. That she got pregnant and her daddy couldn’t stand the thought of the housekeeper’s son and his daughter together.”
Dev chuckled. “That’s what they’re saying? That’s quite a story.”
“Is it true?”
“There was no baby,” Dev said.
“How do you know?”
“Because I know how babies are made and there wasn’t any of that going on between us. As for the rest of it, I guess that’s close to the real story.”
“And what about now?” Joanie asked. “You don’t have to tell me, but I could be useful in tamping down any rumors.”
“She’s a beautiful woman. I find her...intriguing. Interesting. That’s all.”
“She’s sitting over there,” Joannie said. “Maybe you ought to go say hello.”
Dev glanced over his shoulder. A slender figure sat with her back to him. He wouldn’t have thought it was Elodie. “When did she come in?”
“She had dinner. She’s using the Wi-Fi. I guess she doesn’t have internet access at home.” Joannie chuckled. “Nothing going on between you, huh? You look as if you’ve been hit by a truck.”
“Keep that to yourself, would you?”
Joannie nodded, then pushed away from the counter and headed back to the kitchen. Dev picked up his coffee and pie and wandered over to Elodie’s booth.
“Can I join you?”
She glanced up and met his gaze, then smiled. “Hi. Sure. Sit down.”
“I didn’t expect to find you here,” Dev said.
“Internet access,” she said. “I’m working on a—a project.”
“That sounds interesting. Do you want to tell me about it?”
Elodie shook her head. “Not yet.” She closed her computer and set it aside. “Are you done with work?”
“Not yet. I’m on duty until ten. Two more hours. But I have tomorrow off, so that’s a good thing.”
“It is,” she said.
“Maybe, if you need a hand with some of your projects, I can help you out. Mom says you’ve been painting.”
“I have. But there’s so much else that has to be done. I’d be thrilled if you wanted to help.”
“Great. I’ll bring breakfast and we’ll get an early start.”
He reached for his coffee, but his radio squawked. Dev cursed softly. It seemed to be the way it went when he was with her—always interrupted by work. “Sorry,” he murmured.
Dev switched on the radio and listened to the call. Kids had been spotted parked up on Spencer’s Landing, a popular spot for romance, and there was suspicion of alcohol on the scene. Dev knew that the moment he pulled up, they’d scatter, but he also knew that teens driving drunk was a prescription for disaster, and if he split them up before anything got out of hand, he could save them all some trouble.
“I have to go,” he said, gobbling down the rest of his pie. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
Elodie nodded. “All right.”
Dev headed for the door, then stopped and returned to her table. “Would you like to come along? After I check this out, I could drop you at your place. Unless you drove down here.”
“I didn’t. I walked. Sure, I can come. Where are we going?”
“Spencer’s Landing,” he said.
They’d spent a fair amount of time at the very spot years ago, sitting on a blanket beneath the stars, exploring the limits of teenage passion. Not that he needed a reminder of the passion they shared.
Dev waited as she gathered her things, then grabbed her computer bag as they walked to the door. “Thanks, Joannie.”
“Leaving already?” she called from the kitchen.
“Duty calls,” Dev said.
“Thank you,” Elodie said.
When they reached the car, Dev circled around and opened the passenger side door for Elodie and he helped her inside. When he slipped behind the wheel, he found her smiling at him. “What?”
“Are you sure this is all right?”
“I’m the chief. And it’s not like I’m taking you into the middle of a crisis situation. We’re going to bust up a bunch of horny teenagers. And if they’ve been drinking, we’re going call their parents, who will give them a ride home.”
“Sounds like fun,” Elodie said.
He started the car and pulled out into the street. “This is it,” Dev admitted. “It’s not Manhattan. It’s not even Asheville. It’s just a small town with small-town problems.”
“I know. But there’s something great about what you do here,” Elodie said. “You turned into a very good man, Dev.”
He wasn’t sure why her opinion mattered so much, but it did. They’d known each other for a long time and she’d been instrumental in changing the direction of his life. Before he met Elodie, he’d been drifting, uninterested in school, searching for trouble. But after their summer together, he wanted to be better. He’d tried to make himself into the kind of man Elodie would want. He’d waited for her to come back, hoping that her father would forget what had happened and bring his only daughter home. By the time Dev realized she wouldn’t return, he’d managed to graduate from high school with a B average and got into a decent college. He owed her a lot and he’d never properly thanked her.
“There is something we need to talk about,” Elodie said. “It’s your mother. She comes to work every day, and though I appreciate her enthusiasm, I can’t really afford to pay her. I’ve tried talking to her about it, but she’s so loyal to the family, she feels it’s her duty to take care of me.”
“My mother needs that job,” he said. Dev glanced over at her, hoping she’d understand. But there didn’t seem to be any hint of understanding in Elodie’s expression. “Since you’ve been back, she’s been so happy to have a purpose in life. For most of her life, your family was her family. And when the mill shut down and your parents left, she felt abandoned.” He paused. “If she insists on being paid, then I’ll give you money for her salary. Just don’t let her know where it came from. Could you do that?”
Elodie nodded. “Of course I can. But I don’t want her working any more than four hours a day.”
“I think I can convince her to cut down on her hours.”
She reached out and touched his arm. “You’re so good to her. My mother always told me that you can measure a man by how he treats his mother.”
“She hasn’t had an easy life,” he said.
Dev slowed the cruiser as they reached the narrow dirt road that led out to the landing on the river. He looked over at Elodie to find her smiling. “Remember this?”
She nodded. “My heart is beating so fast,” she said, pressing her hand to her chest. “I think I’m going to die if I don’t kiss you.”
“I’m trying to be cool,” he said. “But it doesn’t work. My hands are shaking and my palms are sweating. I’m afraid you’re going to notice.”
“I’m wondering if this is going to be the night we can’t stop,” she said.
When they reached the end of the road, they came into a clearing, a spot that was usually filled with cars and kids. But tonight, the landing was deserted. Dev pulled the cruiser to a stop and switched off the ignition. “Someone must have tipped them off.”
“Better for us,” Elodie said. She opened the door and got out. “Come on. Let’s have a look around.”
Dev watched her through the windshield of the car, the headlights shining on the pale blue dress she wore. A light breeze teased at the hem, causing the fabric to cling to her slender legs.
She looked like some forest nymph, her pale hair tumbling in waves around her shoulders. He wanted to capture her in his arms, pull her body against his and kiss her. But as he stepped out of the car, Dev clenched his fists at his side, trying to slow the rapid pounding of his heart.
He felt like a high school kid again, filled with raging hormones and self-doubt. Who was this beautiful creature and why did she hold such power over him?
Elodie turned to face him, then reached down to grab the hem of her dress. “I’m going for a swim,” she said. “Do you want to come with me?”
“I’m on duty,” he said.
“Then you’ll just have to watch.”
Dev groaned inwardly. He was already hard just thinking about Elodie naked in his arms, the warm water enveloping their bodies.
He’d been a fool to bring her here. But he didn’t regret it for a moment.
* * *
ELODIE STOOD AT the water’s edge, staring out onto the moonlit surface of the river. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this...alive. The past and the present had somehow merged and she was living out some long-ago fantasy.
This place had been part of it. He’d brought her here once before, when they were teenagers. A small group of his friends had gathered for a party and she’d sneaked out of the house to meet him. When they’d first arrived, Elodie had hoped that it might be fun, meeting some of the people he considered friends. But everyone treated her as if she were an interloper—like some foreign princess who would judge them for their public school education and discount store wardrobes.
After a lot of beer and tequila, they’d all decided to go skinny-dipping. But Elodie couldn’t bring herself to join them. She already felt vulnerable, and stripping down to her underwear wasn’t going to make her feel any more secure. So she’d sat on the shore and waited for Dev.
It was the first time she’d realized that there might not be a future for the two of them. They came from very different worlds, and those worlds were being dragged further and further apart.
But now, by some strange stroke of luck, their orbits had crossed again and they were in the same place at the same time. Only now, she was in control of her life—not her father or mother, and there was no fortune to come between them.
“Come on,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “Let’s go in.”
“You really want to take a swim?”
She faced him, tossing her dress onto the grass by her feet. “Do you remember the first time you brought me here?”
Dev nodded. “It didn’t go that well, as I recall.”
“I sat on the shore, right over there, while you joined your friends for a swim.” She kicked off her sandals and her toes sank into the sandy soil. “Are you going to join me now?”
“I can’t. I’m on duty.”
“Convenient excuse,” she said. Elodie had planned to stop at her underwear but then decided he needed more of a temptation.
She wasn’t that scared girl anymore and she’d conquered most of her self-doubts long ago. She was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and right now, she wanted to feel the cool river water on her hot, salty skin. Elodie dropped her bra on top of her discarded dress, then skimmed out of her panties. The warm breeze teased at her hair and she closed her eyes and enjoyed the wild sensations racing through her body.
When she was a teenager, Winchester had seemed such a harsh, stifling place, a spot where she could never truly be herself. And now, for some odd reason, it seemed like the only place on the planet where she could live her life exactly as she pleased.
She started toward the small beach. “It sure is a warm night. That water is going to feel so nice.”
“I could arrest you,” he called. “For indecent exposure.”
She faced him, running her hands through her hair. “You’d have to come in and get me,” she said. With that, Elodie turned and waded into the river. When the water reached her knees, she dived beneath the surface. After the heat of the day, the water was barely cool, but it felt wonderful on her bare skin.
Popping up, she brushed her hair from her eyes and searched the beach for him. He was still standing there, arms crossed and fully clothed. The standoff ended when they both noticed the headlights from a car through the trees. Cursing softly, she sank down until she was nearly undetectable in the dark.
When the lights emerged into the clearing, she was relieved to see that it was another police car. From what she could tell, this was a county cop, but someone Dev seemed to know quite well. Though sound carried well in the still night air, Elodie couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. It appeared that Dev was relaying the story of the party that had brought him out to the river.
A few minutes later, the cop nodded, then got into his car and drove away. Elodie started for the shore. “What did he want? Is he coming back?”
“You’re in trouble now,” Dev said.
“What? Did he notice me?”
“This could be very serious. The county is starting to crack down on this kind of lewd behavior.”
“I’m naked,” she said. “I wouldn’t call myself lewd.”
“Down here in the South, that’s enough.”
When she was out of deep water, Dev approached the shore and waited, holding out his hand. The moment she placed her fingers in his palm, he swept her into his arms, picking her up off her feet and carrying her across the sand.
He set her down next to the police cruiser, then went back to fetch her dress, shoes and underwear. He held out her bra, letting it dangle from his fingertips. “Put this on.”
“Are you angry?”
“No, but I’m on duty. And this is highly inappropriate. I mean, this is a tabloid scandal waiting to happen. Local Cop Caught with Naked Heiress? Sexy Swim on Taxpayer’s Dime? I can see it all now.”
“I just thought it would be—”
He grabbed her shoulders and met her gaze. “Do you have any idea the strength it’s taking for me not to take advantage of this situation right now? I want to pull you into my arms and run my hands all over you until there’s not an inch of you left untouched.”
“How long until you go off duty?” she asked. “I suppose I could wait.”
He chuckled softly. “Another hour.”
“And what are you going to do with me until then?” Elodie asked.
“I’m going to take you home and avoid all further temptation.”
He helped her dress, and Elodie could see that he was already regretting his decision. His fingertips skimmed along her naked shoulders and his palm brushed against her breast. With each innocent caress, she felt the need growing inside her.
It was time to put an end to this simmering attraction between them, time to see exactly where their desire might take them. There was no reason to wait. “Who would have thought that I’d be the one to lose my inhibitions and you’d turn into an upright citizen? Kind of a strange switch, isn’t it?”
“What are you trying to say?” Dev asked.
“I remember when you weren’t afraid of anything.”
“I’m not afraid,” he said, his jaw tight. “I just have a lot more to lose. I was just some punk kid back then, Elodie. I didn’t care about anything or anyone—except you. But I’m trying my damnedest to keep this town from crumbling into dust. Since the mill closed, a third of the population has left. Half of Main Street is boarded up. And I’m just trying to keep things in order until something or someone comes along with a lifeline.”
“What kind of lifeline?”
“I don’t know. Some kind of project that will bring businesses back. Some way to make this town attractive to tourists and then families.”
Elodie thought again of her idea for the mansion. Could that be a starting point? The mill was standing empty. Maybe there was something to be done with that building, too? But putting Winchester back on the map was a long-term commitment. She’d come to town to take care of her own business and then leave. The last thing she wanted to do was get involved in some complicated project that might never succeed.
“You’re a good man, Dev.” She finished buttoning the front of her dress and then ran her fingers through her damp hair. “This town is lucky to have you.”
“You make me sound like some kind of Dudley Do-Right. I’m a small-town cop,” he said. “Nothing more.”
She pressed her palm to his chest. “I wasn’t talking about your job. I was talking about your heart. A lot of people would have walked away from this town. A lot of people did, but you chose to stay and make a difference. That’s not duty. That’s love.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a fierce hug. “Thank you,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
It was amazing how they understood each other. It was as if she could read his mind, anticipate what he was going to think or say. There was something exciting in finding that kind of relationship with a man. It made him even more attractive.
He held her for a long time, the warm night breeze drying the last bit of dampness from her skin. And then, tipping her head back with the soft touch of his hand, Dev kissed her. His tongue teased at her lips, then invaded the warmth of her mouth, at first playful and then deeply passionate. There was a way he had of completely possessing her, demanding surrender no matter how innocent the encounter.
Elodie had always maintained a safe distance with the men in her life, controlling her emotions and never allowing herself to become too dependent on anyone. But with Dev, the choice was out of her hands. She trusted him. She’d known him for most of her life. And nothing she saw in the grown-up man had changed her opinion. He was still her white knight, only now he wore a badge and carried a gun.
When he finally drew away, Elodie sighed softly. It was so easy to kiss him, yet she knew with each kiss, with each intimate encounter, her choices would only grow more complicated.